Joseph p



(No Model.)

J. P. LAVIGNE.

HAIR CLIPPER.

No. 561,058. Patented May 26, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT Y OFFICE.

JOSEPH P. LAVIGNE, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO WARREN M.TOWER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

HAIR-CLIPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561,058, dated May 26,1896.

Application filed January 8, 1894- Serial No. 496,106. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH P. LAVIGNE, of New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inHair- Clippers; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inG011? nection with accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in

Figure 1, a plan view of one form which a hair-clipper constructed inaccordance with my invention may assume; Fig. 2, a reverse broken planview thereof with the handles broken away and the lower knife removed;Fig. 3, a corresponding view with the upper knife also removed; Fig. 4,a view of the device in transverse section on the line a b of Fig. 1;Fig. 5, a detached plan view of the lower knife; Fig. 6, a similar Viewof the upper knife.

My invention relates to an improvement in hair-clippers, the objectbeing to produce a simple, compact, effective, and durable article,designed with particular reference to securing a maximum movement of themovable knife with a minimum movement of the fingers, whereby theclipper is used with the least fatigue and the pulling of the hairavoided.

With these ends in view my invention consists in a hair-clipper havingcertain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will behereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

As herein shown, the device is of ordinary construction in its generalform and comprises a chambered body A, a swinging handle B, a rigidhandle B, knives Cand D, of which the latter is constructed and arrangedto reciprocate at a right angle to the longitudinal plane of the device,and a coupling-screw E, which passes centrally upward through the saidknives and body and receives a thumbnut F, which is applied to itsprojecting upper end. The said knife D, which is the uppermost of thetwo knives, is placed directly against the lower face of the saidchambered body and constructed with a cam -slot D, which is V-shaped inform and arranged transversely to the length of the knife and to oneside of the longitudinal center thereof. This slot may vary in form orpitch; but whatever that may be it will invariably open outward or awayfrom the screw-stud A, which is mounted in one end of the chambered bodyand which forms the pivot on which the handle B swings, the said handleentering the body at one side of the longitudinal center thereof. It isessential that thev slot should open outward, as described, for reasonswhich I will set forth in connection with the operation of the device.The said slot D receives a stud b, carried by a short arm B formed atthe inner end of the swinging handle B, and extending into the oppositeend of the said bodyfrom the end thereof in which the said screw-stud Ais located, the said stud I) being furnished with an antifriction-rollerI), very slightly smaller in diameter than the width of the said slot,which'by reason of its cam form and arrangement 'causes the plate to bemoved correspondingly in both direc tions, or back and forth for everyinward or outward movement of the swinging handle B, as will be morefully described hereinafter. The said knife D is also constructed withtwo elongated guide-slots D D arranged in line with each other andlocated near its respective ends and receiving studs a a, depending fromthe lower face of the chambered body and also passing through stud holes0 0, formed in the knife C aforesaid, the said studs being furnishedwith antifriction-rolls a, (1, Figs. 2 and 3, which are very slightlysmaller in diameter than the width ofthe guide-slots D D which receivethem. The said knife D is further constructed with a centrally-arrangedclearance-slot D through which the coupling-screw E passes, as clearlyshown in Fig. 2. The said knife C, which is located below and in contactwith the knife D, is constructed with a centrally-arranged squareopening 0, which receives the squared portion e, formed closely adjacentto the head of the coupling-screw-E, to prevent the same from rotating.

By reference to Fig.4 of the drawings it will be observed that thechambered body A of the device is furnished with a hub A through whichthe said coupling-screw passes.

The nut F is constructed with a concentric socket f to receive a spiraltension-spring G, the lower end of which bears against the up per faceof the body, and which exerts a constant effort to lift thecoupling-screw and hence draw the lower knife 0 upward against the upperknife I). For the purpose of concealing and protecting this spring, andfor excluding hair and dust and other foreign substances from theclipper, the upper face of the body is constructed with a shallowcircular recess a to receive the inner end of the nut F, as shown inFig. 4. The swinging handle B is operated in being automatically openedor moved away from the rigid handle B by means of a wire spring 11,containing a coil which is arranged concentrically with the screw-studA, one end of the said spring being abutted against the base of the hubA and the other end being engaged with the projeetingupper end of thestud b, which is provided at its lower end with the antifriction-rollerZ) and enters the cam-slot l) in the upper knife D, as alreadydescribed.

For the purpose of facilitating the assenr blance of the clipper Iprefer to provide the body A with an assembling-pin I, located withinits inner edge, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Then when the springHis introduced into the body, which is done prior to the introductionthercinto of the inner end of the swinging handle 13, its long end willengage with the said assembling-pin I, which will hold the said endsufficiently away from the adjacent edge of the body to permit theprojecting upper end of the stud I) to be inserted between the springand the edge of the body. The screw-stud A is then passed through theswinging handle B and entered into the body, which is provided with anintcrnally-tln'eadcd hub (not shown) to receive it. It will thus be seenthat the assembling-pin I enables the stud Z) to be readily engaged withthe spring, whereas if the said end of the spring were engaged with thewall of the body, which it would be in the absence of theassembling-pin, it would be something of a task to properly engage thestud with it.

The operation of the clipper will be understood by reference to Figs. 2and (3 of the drawings. Let it be assumed, for instance, that theswinging handle I is in its open position and that the stud Z) is in theend of the inner member of the ca1n-slot D, as shown in Fig. 2. Now whenthe said swinging handle is drawn inward, by the closing of the hand,toward the rigid handle 3 against the tension of the spring H theroller 1) 011 the stud Z), carried by the arm 13 of the swinging handle,will bear against the wall (Z of the cam-slot D and cause the knife I)to move in the same direction as the swinging handle is moving; bntwhilethe said swinging handle is still being moved in'ward the stud b willemerge from the inner arm of the slot,

and, entering the outer arm thereof, engage with its outer wall (1,reverse the movement of the knife, and cause it to move in the oppositedirection from that in which the swinging handle is moving until thesaid handle reaches the limit of its inward movement. It will thus beseen that while the swinging handle is making its instroke the upperknife has been moved in two directions, or back and forth. Then now thepivotal handle is allowed to recover or go back into its open positionunder the action of the spring II, the roller Z) will operate againstthe wall d of the slot and then against the wall d thereof, whereby theupper knife will be again operated in both directions, or back andforth, during the opening movement of the swinging handle. For eachmovement of the swinging handle I thus secure two movements of the upperknife, which, on account of the pitch of the cam-slot and thearrangement thereof with its opening outward, is moved quickly and for asufficient distance to be most effective in operation. The rollers o. aon the studs a (4 reduce the friction of oper ating the upper knife D tothe minimum.

It is obvious that in carrying out my lIlVOlP tion some changes from theform shown and described may be made. Thus my improvement is applicableto power-clippers as well. as toilet clippers, and in constructing apowerclipper some changes of form, at least, will be necessary. I wouldtherefore have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exactconstruction set forth, but hold myself at liberty to make suchchangesand alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of myinvention. I am aware, however, that a hair-clipper having a chamberedbody, a rigid handle, a swinging handle, two knives, one of which isconnected with the swinging handle for reciprocation thereby, and atension device is old. I am also aware that a shearing-machine havingbowed slots opening outward for coaction with shearing-knives is old. Ido not, therefore, claim either of those constructions broadly.

llaving fully described my invent-i on, what I claim as new, and desireto seenreb y Letters Patent, is

The herein-described hair-clipper consisting in the combination with achambered body, of a handle rigid therewith, a pivotal. handle enteredat its inner end into one end of the said chambered body, and provided.at its said end with a short arm which. extends into the opposite end ofthe said body and carries a stud, a fixed stud located within the saidbody to one side of the center thereof, and havingthe said pivotalhandlehungupon it, a spring located within the body and act ing through thesaid arm to hold the pivotal handle in its open position, a fixed knife,a reciprocal knife interposed between the open. lower face of thechambered body and the upper face of the said fixed knife, and conthesaid projecting end of the said screw, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH P. LAVIGNE.

lVitnesses:

FRED. O. EARLE, A. S, HOTCHKISS.

